What UNEXPECTED Feature Do You Love/Hate After Delivery?

[DrtyJrze]

It’s been a few weeks since delivery, and there are two features of the TM3 that surprisingly have caused me to have a stronger than expected emotional response.

What was interesting to me is that before delivery I didn’t even think about the one I love, but was excited for the one I now kinda “hate”. I’ll start with the positive:

One Pedal Driving: I LOVE this feature! It’s something I never realized I needed, until I had it, hahaha. One less thing I have to worry about, and once you get used to it it’s easy to drive consistently without being a hazard to other drivers. Hopefully more ICE cars start implementing this feature.

Sentry Mode: This feature was actually one of the selling points for me getting a TM3. But in its current state it’s borderline worthless, IMO. Mainly because you can’t view the “incident” on the 15” screen that is the nerve center to the car. This makes zero sense. I think the 10 seconds that triggered the incident report should be loaded and ready for your review upon entry into the vehicle. So unless my bumper is hanging off, I’m not going through the hassle of looking through 30 clips to see someone just pulled into the spot next to mine or walked past the car. It’s not that serious.

I also find that the incident report gives me anxiety...because I can’t review it. I think it’s better to not know that something “happened”, especially if it takes 13 steps to see it.

However I am hopeful that the Sentry mode will be improved in the future through OTA updates, and I am looking forward to moving this feature to the “camp love” soon.

What feature has surprised you since taking delivery?

 

[Nate977p]

The frunk.

I always thought it was cool, but nothing more than storage. Then I realized it was fully separate of the car, meaning I can put takeout and leftovers in there and the smell not enter the car! I hate food smell, even faint, in the car. Such a huge plus.

I agree with you in sentry. I love the feature, but stopped using it as it became such a hassle. I drive on average 3+ hours a day and remembering to always review it became a hassle and I often forgot to put the USB back in; on top of it nearly every video was a false positive. I will set it back up, but do wish it was a bit more robust. That being said, it is an amazing feature and give kudos to Tesla! Just not there enough for me to fully use and review it.

Oh and also the storage. The center console is so big and useable, with many different cubbies! I have a ton if tools in my car and I was able to fit every square inch of the sub truck with them, so no tools rattling around the trunk! (Although there is a spare tire....).

That is a hate it feature. No spare. I drive too much and have had too many non-pluggable flats to not have a spare, thus a large majority of my truck is lost to the spare

 

[dmurphy]

I hear you about Sentry Mode, but I look at it as major event protection. I park at EWR quite a bit, and figure it’s there in case someone backs into my car or smashes the window. That’s it. Otherwise, for small events, I agree. That said - it’s a work in progress, and I’m sure updates are coming.

Now, for features I love ... yep - one pedal driving is probably one of my favorites. Scheduled departures are another surprisingly nice feature.

But the one that’s over the top amazing for me is the FSD lane-change-on-turn-signal feature. Holy cow (channeling my Phil Rizzuto here) is that amazing! It takes Autopilot from a glorified cruise control to a real drivers’ assistant. Makes the whole thing act and feel completely seamless. That one has been the biggest surprise for me, and made the FSD package worth its price alone for me.

 

[holmgang]

+Good audio experience, including native access to InTune and Spotify. Getting Google Play Music so i can have my own library on there would be icing on the cake.
+Ride on 20s, so far, better than anticipated
+Tons of console storage space

-Single central touch display still not a good thing. Speed and Nav needs to be in line-of-sight. Reaching and hovering my arm in the air to browse the music library (right side of screen), is not halfway as easy or safe as a controller accessible from armrest (a la iDrive). Nobody says a bank of buttons like a 2015 Panamera is the solution, but a permanent physical knob for Temp, Volume, etc, is such good UX that it should never have to be digitized.

 

[dmurphy]

-Single central touch display still not a good thing. Speed and Nav needs to be in line-of-sight. Reaching and hovering my arm in the air to browse the music library (right side of screen), is not halfway as easy or safe as a controller accessible from armrest (a la iDrive). Nobody says a bank of buttons like a 2015 Panamera is the solution, but a permanent physical knob for Temp, Volume, etc, is such good UX that it should never have to be digitized.

I have no issue with the speed on the display where it is. It’s on a “Horizontal plane” with my eyeball view of the road; older style gauges were on a “vertical” plane. I don’t think they’re necessarily better or worse, just different.

Now, as for physical controls ... Some are excellent (the temp and fan knobs in our Enclave are probably the best HVAC controls I’ve ever used.) ... and some are atrocious. I’m driving a rental Toyota Avalon right now, and it’s the most awful UX I’ve ever had. One row of identical size and shape buttons, with tiny symbology above each. No less than 3 buttons have defroster symbols on it.

I struggle to believe Toyota has the nerve to price that thing the same as Model 3 ... the controls are THAT bad; the decent ride and handling get completely drowned out.

That said - SOME physical controls on Model 3 would’ve been nice. Wiper stalk should have speed adjustments. HVAC controls could be easier. But what’s there isn’t terrible - just not as nice as a tactile knob.

 

[atnbirdie]

-Single central touch display still not a good thing. Speed and Nav needs to be in line-of-sight. Reaching and hovering my arm in the air to browse the music library (right side of screen), is not halfway as easy or safe as a controller accessible from armrest (a la iDrive). Nobody says a bank of buttons like a 2015 Panamera is the solution, but a permanent physical knob for Temp, Volume, etc, is such good UX that it should never have to be digitized.

Many of the things you mention reaching for are available via voice commands.

 

[holmgang]

I have no issue with the speed on the display where it is. It’s on a “Horizontal plane” with my eyeball view of the road; older style gauges were on a “vertical” plane. I don’t think they’re necessarily better or worse, just different.

I find having to glance more now, to read the speed, than with traditional forward-display. Maybe the adaptation will improve with time.

Worse is the navigation turn display that appears to be miniaturized and blended within the context of the map and larger display. It can be made more prominent.

I’m driving a rental Toyota Avalon right now, and it’s the most awful UX I’ve ever had. One row of identical size and shape buttons, with tiny symbology above each. No less than 3 buttons have defroster symbols on it.

Toyota has notably been in a slump in the In Car Entertainment (I.C.E.) department for a long time. Even more than Honda. They both are a decade behind where you'd think they would be.

Many of the things you mention reaching for are available via voice commands.

I like scrolling through my list of thousands of artists on USB, which can be done spinning a control wheel. Sliding my finger along the right half of the screen is not so nice. (Jumping directly to a letter does help). And if I did want voice dictation to play something very specific, the voice commands is broken in 40.50.7

 

[ecarfan]

Speed and Nav needs to be in line-of-sight.

Set the speed offset alert to chime so you know when you are a fixed amount over the speed limit, then there is no need to look at the mph display. Nav talks to you, which greatly reduces the need to look at the display.

Are both those solutions perfect? No, they are not. But they work 95% of the time for me. And I find no difference between moving my eyes slightly to the right to look at the 3 screen as compared to moving my eyes slightly down to look at the S/X display.

Reaching and hovering my arm in the air to browse the music library (right side of screen), is not halfway as easy or safe as a controller accessible from armrest (a la iDrive). Nobody says a bank of buttons like a 2015 Panamera is the solution, but a permanent physical knob for Temp, Volume, etc, is such good UX that it should never have to be digitized.

When Voice Control is fully and reliably implemented, in my opinion the issue you describe will be a non-issue. The current release is just the beginning...

 

[dmurphy]

I find having to glance more now, to read the speed, than with traditional forward-display. Maybe the adaptation will improve with time.

To be fair, I do miss the HUD from my Caddy. I know this forum is full of German car refugees, but in all seriousness, Cadillac’s got a great interface suite. It really was a pleasure to drive.

Worse is the navigation turn display that appears to be miniaturized and blended within the context of the map and larger display. It can be made more prominent.

This is a disease most in-car GPS units suffer from; I think Tesla is better than most, to be honest.

That said - my favorite display is Apple Maps via CarPlay. The map is shown on the in-dash display, and the complete list of upcoming directions use the phone display as a 2nd screen. It works phenomenally well.

 

[Yev000]

Lots of expected features that I love

Unexpected was

1. Use of the Frunk. The fact that you can forward park in my driveway and get kit out / load is great.
2. One pedal driving hold mode. That came over an update after I was a bit disappointed that it didn't regen to hold.

A few unexpected niggles:

1. No way to answer a call via steering wheel... Would be nice to have programmable buttons.
2. Auto/Frequency of wipers can't be slower. I use rainx and it's just wiping too much for me.
3. No Frunk button on the outside. Would be nice to wire some kind of push/touch button to the Tesla badge to open the frunk, similar to the charge port.

 

[Nate977p]

To add on. The in-car Nav. I either had or installed Nav in the last 4 cars I owned. Never really used them at all and have used Waze primarily. Now with Tesla, I find I use Tesla more than Waze (typically I run both) and honestly Tesla is al.ost as accurate as Waze with time estimates, which is something no in-car Nav ever came close to. And being able to enter directions is so much easier. I got into a 2018 Volvo XC90 and the GF and I gave up on trying to enter the directions. Having to enter the street number, then street name, then town, then state individually, either by touch or voice, was painful and voice was completely inaccurate. The 3 really made me rethink my bias against built in Nav; last few years I saw no reason for them with phone Nav until the 3.

 

[GLM3]

I've had the luxury of driving many thrilling ICE street cars ranging from old muscle cars (Chevy 409 and 427 cars, Plymouth Superbird and 440 GTX) to more modern sports cars and sedans (Corvette, Ferrari, Porsche, BMW). I thought I would miss the engine sound rush when experiencing hard acceleration, but I am completely enamored with the silent and amazing acceleration, even when passing another car at highway speeds. Completely unexpected to me anyway.

I do miss the Heads Up Display (HUD) with the combination of speed and navigation indicators that I had in my BMW 340i, which the M3P performance replaced. Other than that I don't miss the BMW at all.

 

[tvad]

Love one pedal driving.

Absolutely hate the auto tilting driver side mirror when in Reverse.

 

[holmgang]

Lots of expected features that I love
3. No Frunk button on the outside. Would be nice to wire some kind of push/touch button to the Tesla badge to open the frunk, similar to the charge port.

My unexpected plus, is that the app detects you're within range of the car and presents the option to open the Frunk.

As opposed to having to open the app , connecting to the car, and THEN opening the trunk.

That solves not having an external frunk button

 

[Dolemite]

The frunk. Wife bought rubber mats for the entire car upon delivery, I thought the frunk mat would end up being a waste of money. Regular trunk now sees almost no use at all.

 

[kinito]

Nothing unexpected here I had to wait 11 weeks for delivery and had too much time/fun watching videos and learning about the awesomeness of the car. If anything, the drive is what was unexpected - power and smoothness feels like a golf cart on steroid I love it; yesterday I rented car for business and Avis gave me a Dodge Charge "Muscle Supercharged" - what a POS.

 

[Yev000]

My unexpected plus, is that the app detects you're within range of the car and presents the option to open the Frunk.

Will have to try that out, but so far I've not see it do that. I'm on Android. I have the notification, which is impossible to use (you have to swipe down inside the notification bar and 99% of the time it opens Android settings and minimises all notifications) and the app itself. Once you are in the app you have the button there. Then you have to confirm that - yes you are sure you want to open the frunk - and sign a disclaimer that you understand it can't be closed remotely.

Or you can just open the door, reach into the car and tap the button

Or buy a £150 key fob

I also find it ironic that there is a button inside it - presumably so that any child who has been kidnapped by a Tesla owner can escape - so wiring it to another touch button - say on the tesla badge - would be fairly trivial.

 

[holmgang]

Will have to try that out, but so far I've not see it do that. I'm on Android. I have the notification, which is impossible to use (you have to swipe down inside the notification bar and 99% of the time it opens Android settings and minimises all notifications) and the app itself. Once you are in the app you have the button there. Then you have to confirm that - yes you are sure you want to open the frunk - and sign a disclaimer that you understand it can't be closed remotely.

I suppose it's how your phone and its OS is configured.

Mine is a direct swipe down from notification, which has the Frunk, Trunk, and something else there as direct shortcuts. No accidental jumps into Settings (have to hit Gears for that), or minimize/clear notifications - which is a separate button

 

[z06tim]

Love one pedal driving.

Absolutely hate the auto tilting driver side mirror when in Reverse.

Why don't you just disable the auto tilting mirror? Its a setting in the menu.

 

[raviman8]

Love everything! Autopilot has improved significantly in my last 10 months of ownership; voice commands are getting better by the update.
Do hate the reverse camera in terms of, if reversing, and you select audio/garage door, etc, camera disappears. IMO, the camera should be on top while in Reverse.